---
title: Continuing to reward contributors
description: Our 3-month trial of paying core maintainers has been a success. We're making it permanent — and will be expanding the system to cover bug bounties, feature work, and more.
date: 2025-10-06T10:00
slug: continuing-to-reward-contributors
tags: [announcement]
hide_table_of_contents: false
authors: MatissJanis
---

[Three months ago](/blog/spending-community-funds), we launched an experiment: using community donations to directly support the people who keep this project running. The idea was simple — compensate core contributors for the invisible but essential work of reviewing pull requests, triaging issues, and preparing releases.

Today, we're excited to share that the trial has been a success. 🎉

Thanks to your feedback, patience, and ongoing support, we've ironed out the kinks in the system, resolved bugs in the points tracking process, and proven that this model is both fair and sustainable.

As a result: **we're making contributor payments permanent.**

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## What This Means

- Core contributors will continue to receive stipends based on their monthly contributions.
- The transparent points system (for PR reviews, issue triage, and releases) remains in place.
- Funding continues to come from our community donations on [OpenCollective].

This ensures that the essential maintenance work — the work that enables everything else to happen — is recognized and supported long-term.

## What's Next: Expanding the System

The initial trial was focused on core maintenance. Now that the foundation is solid, we're preparing to expand. Over the coming months, we plan to introduce:

- **Bug bounties** → Rewards for fixing long-standing or high-impact issues.
- **Feature bounties** → Incentives for implementing important improvements requested by the community.
- **Other initiatives** → Ways to make contributing more rewarding and sustainable for everyone, not just core maintainers.

We'll share details about these expansions soon — so stay tuned!

## Thank You ❤️

This project is powered by generosity, trust, and shared care. By supporting contributors financially, we're not just sustaining the software — we're sustaining the community behind it.

To everyone who has donated, given feedback, or contributed time and energy: thank you. This is your success as much as ours.

[OpenCollective]: https://opencollective.com/actual
